


Reunion

by matchstick_milk



Series: Better or Worse [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: Adult Life Is Hard Sometimes, Drinking, First Kiss, Getting Together, M/M, Making Out, Reunions, Smoking, college nitori
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-30
Updated: 2017-09-30
Packaged: 2019-01-07 01:58:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12223431
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/matchstick_milk/pseuds/matchstick_milk
Summary: Sousuke's reunited with the Samezuka Swim Club after three years; it's nice to see everyone again, though one person in particular really captures his interest.A prequel fic to "Satisfaction."





	Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> this is the kind of origin story to "satisfaction," so how sousuke and nitori met! i hope you enjoy!

"Rin's house is just around the corner, I think," Momo hums, rubbing his chin as he stares at his phone. After a moment of confirmation, he nods and pockets the device, lips turning up into a smile that's the spitting image of his older brother's. 

Sousuke nods, but doesn't say much; he hasn't since he set foot off the train (and ran into his old teammate). That's fine, though. Momo still talks enough for the both of them. 

He's grown up a lot since Sousuke's seen him last. He's started university, just a couple towns over, the same place the older Mikoshiba brother attended. His shoulders have broadened, he's gotten a bit taller, let his hair grow a fraction more shaggier. Still, his freshman year of college is "a big deal," he babbles, so Sousuke let's him talk about it as much as he wants; there's not much for Sousuke to say in return, though. He wouldn't know what college is like. 

Before Sousuke can sling himself into some kind of quieted self-induced pity party, Momo's shouting, "Oh!" and sprinting off down the unevenly cobbled road towards the only house that's still got it's lights on at this hour. 

Sousuke shifts the small pack of beer from his left hand to his right, rolling the kinks from his shoulder as he toes his shoes off. It'd take a monumental effort not to smile at the scene inside the house, and Sousuke's not big into wasting energy, so even he grins, ever so slightly, at the warmth and easy friendships radiating from the Matsuoka household. 

Rin's already drunk, that much is... impeccably clear, with the way he's hanging off of Nanase, smile wide and eyes a little slow in their blinking. Nanase holds a beer in one hand at the low dining table, mostly full, his other hand wrapped around Rin's waist to keep him supported. The older Mikoshiba brother is in the process of leaping up from a rather rowdy-looking game of cards to greet his brother. The other second years are a litany of activity and various stages of inebriation: Toru's waxing loudly at Rin and Nanase about some encounter he had with a girl at a bar, Minami and Nakagawa are deadlocked in a sloppy arm wrestling match, Uozumi waits impatiently for the card game to resume.... 

He makes eye contact with Nitori from the far side of the table, though it takes a moment to register that it's  _Nitori_ that he's looking at. His kouhai's... changed some. They make eye contact and Nitori smiles, pushing himself up from the table, a little wobbly upon his intital standing, though he walks like he's far less intoxicated than the rest of them. 

"Yamazaki-senpai!" His cheeks are rosy, from the summer heat and alcohol, Sousuke's sure, as he peers up at him, the surrogate host now that Rin's thoroughly intoxicated. "I can take this if you want." He gestures to the beer, and for the first time, Sousuke realizes he's been staring. 

"Oh. Yeah, here...." Nitori takes the case, but there wasn't much of a point; he just sets it on the table two feet behind him with the rest of the drinks.

When Nitori turns back to Sousuke, he feels like he ought to say something.  _How have you been_ or  _It's been a long time_ or even  _You look so different_ , but nothing comes out. After an awkward beat, Nitori looks away, his smile faltering a little bit. "Right, well we've already started," Ai starts, hands on his hips as he looks back at the raucous room.

"I can see that," half under his breath, but Nitori hears it and smiles still. 

"Rin-senpai!" and then Rin is turning his attention away from whispering something salacious in Haru's burning ear; the miffed expression immediately cracks when he focuses his eyes on Nitori and Sousuke at the edge of the party. 

"Sousuke!" Rin half-cheers, raising his beer high in a salute. "It's about damn time; what took you so long? We've been waiting hours!"

"I got lost." Which is the truth; Sousuke's sense of direction hasn't improved a lick since high school and the phone GPS he's become so reliant on gets crappy reception out here. He's gotten so used to the instant gratification of Tokyo technology, he'd nearly forgotten what it was like to be back in the country, in this little seaside town. 

This simple fact has Rin and a few others near him roaring in laughter, which makes him smile in return; even Nanase is trying to hide his amused smile behind his bottle's neck. 

Sousuke sits himself down next to Rin on the tatami, falling into conversation easily; they've always been able to do this. Talking. Rin brings that out in people. He even gets Nanase to talk more than he would have the last time Sousuke saw him, right after graduation.

As he leans on the table, he runs a habitual hand over his shoulder and lets his gaze sweep leisurely over the table. Again, his eyes meet Nitori's, only this time, it was the younger who was doing the staring. 

Instead of blushing and turning away quickly, afraid of being caught, like the Nitori Aiichirou from second year would have down, Nitori holds Sousuke's attention, their eyes locked in a way that is far too intimate for this party or Sousuke's liking. And, then, it's over, with a gentle grin from Nitori, before the old kouhai is taking a swig of beer and turning his attention back to Mikoshiba's card game. 

..

Here's the thing: Nitori looks good. Like,  _really_ good. 

Sousuke had been surprised by his kouhai's appearance, though, in all honestly, it hadn't  _changed_ much. No, he was still the shortest of the team, having maybe grown an inch or two more since high school. His hair is still cropped neatly against his forehead. His eyes are still a catastrophic shade of blue. 

But... he just looks  _better_.

Sousuke doesn't know how to describe it, not that words had ever been his strongest suit. Nitori doesn't dress the way he used to: his clothes now are a black that flatter his pale skin with a stark contrast. Just a loose shirt over black jeans with the hems rolled over his ankles. His finger has a ring on it-- _from a girlfriend? From a boyfriend?_ Sousuke can't help but wonder, begrudgingly--as does his one ear, both small and silver. He doesn't want to stare too closely, but there's something dark around his eyes as well, and Sousuke's curious to know if it's a trick of the light, or eyeliner. 

But, it's more than just clothing. It isn't that his face or body has changed, it's that  _he's_ changed, so clearly. 

He doesn't shrink into himself. He's shy, yes, that much is clear, and bashful when he's paid some kind of attention; when he and the other boys talk about their personal lives, the cards half-abandoned, he blushes when the jeer and pick on him. He covers his face when someone says something particularly raunchy. The air about him is different; more confident, more sure about... something. Himself. Something; Sousuke shakes his head. He really shouldn't be thinking about this, it's not as if it matters, really. They haven't seen or spoken to one another in nearly three years. Three years is a long time. 

"Right, Sousuke?"

"Hm?"

He turns to find Rin patiently waiting for the answer to a question Sousuke clearly didn't hear. Haru's got something like a knowing look in his eyes; Sousuke pales when he sees Haru's gaze flicker from him to Nitori and back, almost questioningly. 

"Y-yeah, sure," he finally throws up, knocking back his a long sip so he doesn't have to speak; Rin seems satisfied enough with his answer, though, so for now, it's okay. 

..

He's starting to feel antsy. He's a couple beers in and feeling warm and a little buzzed, but the party's so far ahead of him, he'll have to start shotgunning to catch up, it seems. 

Sousuke fishes around in the overshirt he'd cast aside earlier in the evening, before finding what his skin's been beginning to crave. He shrugs the shirt on, leaving the buttons open as he unfolds his legs and makes for the back porch. 

It's down the hall, he thinks, or at least, until he's running into a much smaller body, full-force. Okay, maybe he was... a little drunker than he thought he was. 

"Ah! What the hell--oh, S-sousuke, I didn't know it was you," Nitori says, all of it on one breath as he rights himself; Sousuke lets go of his forearm, where he'd gone to grab to steady the younger man from falling. 

"Yeah."  _Smooth_.

Sousuke's still definitely blocking the hallway like a brick wall, and Nitori laughs in a way that's more like exhaling. "Um... do you have to use the bathroom?" he asks, pointing over his shoulder, unsure of... all this, if it is anything at all. 

"No, uh-- no." Sousuke runs a hand through his hair. "I was looking for the back porch, but I got turned around...."

And, Nitori laughs at that, full body and loud, before nudging past Sousuke. The light flush is still on his cheeks when their bodies slide against one another in their maneuvering; Nitori makes a gesture with his hand. "Come on; I'll show you where it is." 

..

The porch is like a little slice of heaven. It's quiet and dark, lit partially by the blue of the waning moon and the far away yellows of the party inside. Out here, Sousuke can hear less of the music and chatter, and more of the ocean and the cicadas. He sits down with a long sigh, rolling his neck and shoulder so that they each pop, and he allows himself to relax a little. 

"You sure you don't mind if I join?" Nitori asks, more skeptical than unsure as he lets his legs hang over the edge of the porch, peering up at Sousuke with one eyebrow arched. 

"As long as you don't make me try to play that shitty card game." He pulls a small carton from his shirt pocket and a lighter, letting a cigarette hang lazily between his teeth as he runs a rough thumb over the wheel once, twice, three times, trying to light it but not succeeding.

"Shit...." He gives it a shake or two, but it doesn't light still; he's interrupted by a light laugh, like something light and silvery tinkling in the nighttime breeze. 

"Here." Nitori pulls a little lighter from his pants pocket, lighting it with ease before holding it out for Sousuke. 

Sousuke hesitates for a fraction, feeling himself warm at their proximity; they're leant in close to one another, a flame poised between them. Nitori tries to cup his hand around the fire to keep it from the breeze before humming, "I can't believe Sousuke smokes now," as if he's amused by the idea of it.

Nitori lets out a quiet gasp when Sousuke brings his hand over his on the lighter, to steady the flame, a strong and guiding hand. Sousuke inhales, the end of the cigarette crackling. The fire's glow has softened the edges of Nitori's face, when Sousuke looks up from where he's bowed his head over the lighter. 

And then, the moment is over. The flame is gone, and the lighter is lowered and tucked away, and they turn away from each other so Sousuke can take a drag and exhale it away from Nitori's direction. 

"Why?"

Nitori tilts his head. "Hm?"

"Why do you sound so surprised?" Sousuke gestures to the cigarette. "That I smoke."

"Oh." Nitori's lips twist together in thought. "I guess... you were always so dedicated to swimming, I didn't think you'd pick up an unhealthy habit like that." 

The honesty leaves space for silence. Sousuke just nods, contemplating whether or not to tell him; whether or not he wants this to become a pity party over his own pathetic life. 

"I--"

"Not that I'm one to judge," Nitori hurriedly interjects. Sousuke flicks some ash off the cigarette, watching Nitori offer a bashful smile as he runs his hands through his bangs. "I started doing it last year after a really stressful semester."

Sousuke can't imagine it, Nitori smoking. Not that it doesn't fit, but rather, he just can't picture it. He holds it out to Nitori. "Here." 

Nitori watches him carefully, like it's a trick or a trap, before deciding that Sousuke isn't like that. He rolls the stick in his dainty fingers, before letting his lips come around the end and he breathes, breathes it in and lets the smoke out through his nose on a graceful sigh. The sound does something to Sousuke, something he'd rather not think about or acknowledge. 

"So you're in school."

Nitori takes another drag and grins, though it's directed out at the houses below them, rather than the man next to him. "I thought you wanted to get away from all the talking."

Sousuke doesn't want to mean it when he says, "If it's just you talking, then it's fine," but he does. 

Nitori passes the cigarette back, their fingers brushing with the movement. "Yeah. I go to school in Tokyo."

"Where?"

"Bunka."

"Mm. Isn't that an art school?"

Nitori smiles, a little bit proud, though he's trying to hide it. "Fashion, actually." This time when Nitori takes the cigarette back, he slides just a bit closer, and takes it from Sousuke's lips with a small smirk, and without asking. "What about you?"

"What about me?" and Sousuke can't help the bitter smile on his face as he turns into the breeze sweeping up from the water. 

"What do you do? Are you in school? Rin says you live in Tokyo, but."

"I didn't go to school."

Nitori pauses, lets the words ruminate alongside the smoke. "Didn't want to?"

Neither says anything for a long time, until Sousuke says, earnest and quiet, "I don't know. Or, uh, it's not that I don't  _know_ , I just...." Nitori, in some act of kindness, gives him the cigarette, worn down so much in this short span of time, so he has something to do with his hands. "I didn't think there was much for me. After swimming. And I was right."

It comes out cold and unattached, the way he means it to, but Nitori still looks at him with sympathy; he doesn't want that. That's why he'd evaded every personal question thrown his way since he got here. 

"There's got to be something...."

Sousuke can't help it; he laughs. It's a little mean-spirited, a little self-deprecating. "Swimming was the only thing I was ever good at." 

"That's not true." Nitori fixes him with a stern look. "You're good at helping people."

The older almost wants to scoff--at how wrong Nitori is, at how he's apparently fooled him, at how he doesn't know him and didn't know him, three years ago when they could call themselves friends. "I'm not exactly a people person."

"You helped me, though. I mean...." Nitori brings one leg up to his chest, the other swaying lazily over the edge. "I was a mess when you started coaching me. You pushed me. Sometimes you don't need a people person. Sometimes you need... someone who makes you believe in yourself worth." 

"It was easy. It was swimming, it was you, it was...." And, Sousuke's never liked it when other people did this, when they've pitied themselves like the way he is now, so he cuts it off and manages a "thank you," that's more sincere than he means it to be. He's almost regretting it, until he sees the smile it brings to Nitori's face.

"What do you mean? It was 'me.'" 

 _Fuck_. 

Sousuke rolls the little nub of a cigarette that's left in his fingers before stamping it out against the underside of the porch. He reaches for another one. "Can I get another light?"

When he turns to Nitori, those blue eyes are watching him closely, hand half in his pocket. "After you answer me...."

Sousuke sighs, pulls the cigarette out and plays with it, the paper smooth against his rough fingers. "I don't know. I don't know that I meant anything by it. I knew it... swimming, I mean. And, I knew you." He grins, small and playful, down at Nitori in the corner of his eye. "You were everyone's cute little kouhai, and you were dedicated. It's easy to help someone who wants to be helped."

Nitori licks his lips, just a flicker of movement while he thinks, before he pulls the lighter out. Sousuke leans in, their whole act the same. Light, crackle, let it go out. 

Sousuke looks out to the sea. He'd stared at it a long time after graduating, and never thought he would miss it. He supposes he does; supposes it gives him something to stare at. 

"I'm not, though." 

Sousuke turns, cigarette hanging on his lips. Nitori turns and looks at him with a frightening amount of drive, eyes catching him like a deer in the headlights. 

"I'm not...."

Nitori huffs a small little laugh, amused and annoyed, as he reaches forward, delicate fingers taking the cigarette from between Sousuke's lips. Sousuke hadn't noticed their thighs were touching until now, that Nitori was in his space until now. Nitori repeats the action, wetting his lips, and this time it draws Sousuke's attention. 

"You know, I'm not your little kouhai anymore," he breathes, head tilting in a telltale way, eyes dropping to Sousuke's own lips. " _Yamazaki-senpai_."

The warm air of his own name makes Sousuke shiver, before his lips are being taken by Nitori's. His lips feel exactly like he'd imagine: soft and small, though he kisses with intent. There's no nervous blushing or stammering or chaste kisses. No, their lips part and slot against one another's easily, both of them knowing what they're doing, how to give the other what they want. It feels nice, deep and lazy, and Sousuke takes the liberty of pulling the plush of Nitori's lip between his teeth without asking. 

By the soft keen and sudden hand on Sousuke's upper thigh, he takes it that Nitori doesn't mind. 

When they draw apart, Sousuke's breathless; it feels romantic to think, disarmingly so, but he can feel the slight burn in his lungs from not breathing deeply enough, and it leaves him with a lighter head. 

He cups Nitori's cheek, the side of his face fitting neatly in his palm; Nitori leans into it like he's touch-starved, turning to press a barely-there kiss to his love line. 

"Ai...." And he wants to say a million things:  _He can't do this,_ or  _He_ shouldn't _do this,_ or  _something_ , but all he does is stare and think _, I want to kiss him again_.

"Oi! Oi, Sousuke, we're gonna play--oh, shit."

Nitori and Sousuke tense, both whipping around just in time to see Rin staring at them, staring at the hand held so tenderly to Nitori's cheek. He peers at one, then the other, and back, like he's working out a math problem in his head, before it clicks and his lips are spreading into a sharp, devious smile.

"Rin-senpai--!" Nitori moves to defend, to say something, until Sousuke cuts in:

"Rin, go back inside."

Rin shrugs, leaning hard against the wooden frame with the motion. His beer sloshes in it's bottle, spilling on his bare feet just a bit. "I won't say anything, I didn't _see_ anything, I just came out here to invite you to play cards--don't shoot the messenger." He mimics shooting a bow and arrow, before he's giggling. "Just call me Cupid!" 

" _Rin_."

"Okay, okay, okayyyyy." He waves his hands, before turning back to the party, only stopping to point accusingly at both of them. "No freaky shit on my porch though. This is a residence not a _brothel_." 

Sousuke watches after Rin, listening closely to make sure he doesn't immediately start gossiping; to his relief, they just go back to chatting. When he turns back, Nitori's taking the longest drag he's ever seen--really, he's tempted to step in and say something. 

"We should do this again sometime."

Sousuke's surprised by the words that come out of his own mouth, and, by the looks of it, so is Nitori. But surprise dissolves into a small smile and smoke curling through a unsure chuckle.

"Really?"

 _No, because I'm emotionally unavailable._ "Yeah. If, uh... yeah."

Nitori nods slowly. "We _are_ both in Tokyo...." 

"I don't have much I'm doing these days," Sousuke adds, mostly joking, but also, not really.

"Mmm." Nitori exhales a short drag before looking up at Sousuke through narrowed eyes. "I guess I'll have to suffice."

It takes too long for Sousuke to rebound, something like arousal like lightning in the pit of his stomach at the insinuation. "You know, I've got a hotel room to myself tonight."

Nitori laughs; Sousuke can't help his smile. This seems to be becoming another had habit.

"As tempting as that sounds, I do have parents I promised to spend the day with tomorrow." He passes the cigarette back to Sousuke as he kneels, preparing to stand. Nitori leans in, then, following the cigarette, until his lips are a whisper on the shell of Sousuke's ear. "Plus, I never fuck on the first date."

He stands then, in one fluid motion, as if the alcohol was never in his system to begin with, while Sousuke's suddenly feeling something along the lines of wasted.

Nitori lingers at the doorway for a moment before leaving Sousuke with a quiet, "You have my number," his cheeks finally pink, toe digging into the tatami as if all the things he's said are beginning to catch up to him, before he's finally gone. 

Sousuke stares after him. Takes a long drag. When he turns back to the dark ocean, he sighs, rubbing his head, his eyes; his smile.  


End file.
